Cutting Costs

Hmmm…I’ve been trying to set some part goals on my way to the million lately and no matter how I count I seem to have to rely either on a lottery win or simply to cut my savings by A LOT in order to reach my target within a reasonable future. My idea is obviously to make my million as quickly as possible but I have come to realise that it will take me about 10 years of hard work to get there, and that is still cutting it a bit fine.

I have had a look at what expenses I can cut in order to save a little extra each month, possibly investing this money in higher risk investments, i.e. shares. Sadly, or maybe it’s not so sad there doesn’t seem to be a lot I can cut in terms of fixed payments. I am already on the cheapest plan when it comes to all utility bills, my broadband only costs me £10 a month for example. This means that my share of absolutely necessary outgoings such as rent, utility bills and travel end up at about £540 a month. Above that I have other expenses that I cannot see myself cutting no matter what, the main one being my gym membership at £49. This is still one of the cheapest options that I’ve been able to find in London so I can’t complain too much even if it adds up to nearly £600 a year.

My monthly wage take home wage is about £1365 which means that every month I have about £780 to put into savings, debt repayment and maybe to buy myself some food and other necessities. Theoretically I should be able to save at least £500 a month every month so why do I never seem to be able to save that much? Maybe what I need to do instead of cutting costs is getting a higher paid job?